<p>I am a female, hispanic high school senior from georgia wanting to go through undergrad all the way up until med school. My parents make enough money so that i dont qualify for many scholorships however Im going to have to pay for my school (wherever I go) 100%. Heres the catch, I have 8 siblings, 4 younger ones that still live at home and by my senior year in college 2 of them will also be in college. My parents have made it very clear that we all will be paying our own way through school and that we shouldn't be scared of student loans, however I still am. Will emancipating myself give me a better chance to earn scholorship money for an estimated 6-10 years more schooling? Some stats are im in the top quintile of my class and have a weighted GPA of 3.75</p>
<p>It isn’t easy to emancipate yourself, it is a legal matter and there has to be a reason, like history of abandonment or abuse. You are likely near 18 where you are legally independent too.</p>
<p>Colleges ‘need aid’ will based on your family income data until you are 24, but no one can make families pay (except divorced parents in NJ it seems but that is another story.) Obviously if everyone could say they want to be disconnected and emancipated from parent income, everyone would be. How much have you saved so far, knowing this scenario?</p>
<p>You only have to worry about 4 years of schooling for now. You will be considered independent when you are graduated. Most people do pay their own grad school and med school with loans, you aren’t likely to get money for that. If you are getting a PhD there are more opportunities for fellowships and funding.</p>
<p>You had best seek merit aid, what are your test scores and breakdown? I believe your state has some very good offers for good students. There are other colleges with good offers, look in the financial aid threads pinned at the top of the forum.</p>
<p>Emancipation is not an easy task, and takes time…and you need to have a reason to do so. Also this needs to be done before your 18th birthday…completed by then.</p>
<p>You won’t be able to emancipate yourself.</p>
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<p>LOL…your parents are naive. YOU can only borrow $5,500 as a frosh. To borrow more THEY would have to co-sign those loans? Will they do that? You need to tell them that THEY have to co-sign those additional loans.</p>
<p>What are your test scores?</p>
<p>Do you qualify for Zell Miller or Hope scholarship in GA?</p>
<p>How did your older siblings pay for college? Did they commute from home? </p>
<p>Don’t worry about med school now. Yes, you’ll have loans for THAT.</p>
<p>But as an undergrad, you can’t borrow much. The rules for student loans have changed. Your parents may not know that. </p>
<p>Do you have any siblings in college? If so, what is their FAFSA EFC? ask them.</p>
<p>If you will be responsible for paying college costs then you need to look at the pinned threads at the top of this forum for some merit aid options. </p>
<p>If your parents will not pay and you do not qualify for fin aid because they make/have too much, then you have to find schools that will give you merit money or where the cost ls low enough that you can cover yourself. Most students do not go away for college, but commute from parents’ home, going to a local school, working part or even full time to meet expenses. That may be your fall back position if you cannot get enough merit money to go away to a college. The most you are likely to be able to borrow on your own is $5500 freshman year, increasing slightly as an upperclassman, so you can see that isn’t likely to cover private schools, sleep away college without the college kicking in scholarhship money to you. But a local state school would likely be covered with that amount, plus earnings from you, summer and part time during the school year. </p>